Stankonia

Stankonia
Andre 3000 and Big Boi over a black and white U.S. flag.
Released	October 31, 2000
Recorded	1999-2000
Studio	Stankonia Recording Tree Sound Studios, Atlanta A&M Studios, Los Angeles
Genre	Hip Hop, Southern Hip Hop, Progressive Rap, Funk
Length	73:07
Record label	LaFace, Arista
Producer	Earthtone III, Organized Noise, Carl Mo
Artist chronology
Previous	Aquemini
Next	Big Boi and Dre Present... Outkast

Stankonia is the fourth studio album by Hip Hop group Outkast, released on October 31, 2000 through LaFace Records (now absorbed into RCA Records). The album was recorded in a short one year span from 1999 to 2000 because of their newly-opened recording facility Stankonia Studios, which is located in Atlanta, GA.

After their 1998 album Aquemini, both Andre 3000 and Big Boi had wanted to create more expansive and experimental music, using many genres such as funk, rave music, psychedelia, gospel, and rock inside a Southern Hip Hop sound. Overtime, Andre had drifted away from traditional rapping and more towards singing, which Big Boi and many producers had at first disliked. Stankonia had featured many Atlanta-based musicians, including Killer Mike who would later go on to achieve multiple Grammy's and make six solo albums and four collab albums with producer E-IP. Stankonia features many progressive lyrics, with songs like "Humble Mumble" going over the negative and violent assumptions of Hip Hop.

The album was critically acclaimed, getting a 20th anniversary re-release on October 30, 2000 featuring unreleased remixes.

Background

In March of 1998, Big Boi and Andre 3000 had purchased a recording studio in Atlanta formerly owned by R&B singer Bobby Brown, with the studio being one of the first times the duo had actually recorded vocals together, giving it some value to them. Outkast had named the studio in question Stankonia, which was a combination of both the words "Stank" (Synonym of funky) and "Plutonia", which was the title of a poster Andre had in his bedroom which depicted a futuristic city. According to Andre, Stankonia was meant to be a place where you could; "Open yourself up and be free to express anything". The recording of Stankonia had began in Spring of 1999, where the group didn't have to worry about any time constraints a normal studio would have. While Big Boi had worked in the studio, Andre 3000 would usually work at home creating beats and experimenting with an acoustic guitar. One of these guitar sessions had eventually morphed into Ms. Jackson, one of the album's renowned singles. Andre would also write stray lyrics on his walls, with one of the stray lyrics in question turning into the song Gasoline Dreams. "I had planned to paint my house anyway; writing on the walls was just something I would do.". Many parts of the album were made in, "Vibe sessions" where Outkast and producers would visit clubs in Downtown Atlanta and invite performers to the studio. After that, they would "Sit around, smoke a few, drink a few" and brainstorm ideas for future songs. Eventually, recording sessions had grown tough as Andre had gotten tired of always rapping, so in order keep musical cohesion and expand his vocals, he had combined rapping with crooning inspired by soul music.

Reception

Stankonia had debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 chart where it sold 525,844 copies in it's first week. Within it's first week of release, Stankonia had been certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America. Stankonia had reached 2 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop and stayed on it for a whopping 45 weeks . B.O.B., or Bombs Over Baghdad, was Stankonia's lead single, peaking at 69 on the R&B/Hip Hop Charts despite it's lack of airplay from being banned on multiple radio stations. Ms. Jackson, the albums second lead single had topped the US Billboard 100 Chart for a week, reaching #1 in 5 countries. It was critically acclaimed, being ranked number 145 on Rolling Stone's 2021 version of "Top 500 Greatest Songs" list . Stankonia was critically acclaimed, having a 9.5 on Metacritic and a 9.5 on Pitchfork. At the 2001 Grammy's, Stankonia had won Best Rap Album and Ms. Jackson won Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group.

Tracklist

No.	Title	Performers	Producers	Time
1	Intro	Andre 3000, Big Boi	Earthtone III	1:09
2	Gasoline Dreams	Andre 3000, Big Boi, Khujo	Earthtone III	3:34
3	I'm Cool (Interlude)	?	Earthtone III	0:42
4	So Fresh So Clean	Andre 3000, Big Boi	Organized Noize	4:00
5	Ms. Jackson	Andre 3000, Big Boi	Earthtone III	4:30
6	Snappin' & Trappin'	Andre 3000, Big Boi, Killer Mike, J-Sweet	Earthtone III	4:19
7	D.F. (Interlude)	?	Earthone III	0:27
8	Spaghetti Junction	Andre 3000, Big Boi	Organized Noize	3:57
9	Kim & Cookie (Interlude)	?	Earthone III	1:12
10	I'll Call Before I Come	Andre 3000, Big Boi, Gangsta Boo, Eco	Earthone III	4:18
11	B.O.B.	Andre 3000, Big Boi	Earthone III	5:04
12	Xplosion	Andre 3000, Big Boi, B-Real	Earthone III	4:08
13	Good Hair (Interlude)	?	Earthone III	0:14
14	We Luv Deez Hoez	Andre 3000, Big Boi, Backbone, Big Gipp	Organized Noize	4:10
15	Humble Mumble	Andre 3000, Big Boi, Erykah Badu	Earthone III	4:50
16	Drinkin' Again (Interlude)	?	Earthone III	0:24
17	?	Andre 3000, Big Boi	Earthone III	1:28
18	Red Velvet	Andre 3000, Big Boi	Earthone III	3:52
19	Cruisin' in the ATL (Interlude)	?	Earthone III	0:19
20	Gangsta Shit	Andre 3000, Big Boi, Slimm Calhoun, C-Bone, T-Mo	Carl Mo, Earthone III	4:41
21	Toilet Tisha	Andre 3000, Big Boi	Earthone III	4:24
22	Slum Beautiful	Andre 3000, Big Boi, CeeLo Green	Earthone III	4:07
23	Pre-Nump (Interlude)	?	Earthone III	0:27
24	Stankonia (Stanklove)	Andre 3000, Big Boi, Big Rube, Sleepy Brown	Earthone III	6:51